Kindred Spirit (Mori x OC)

Twelve

Hanabi watched happily as she saw the students of Ouran enjoying the Yarimizu channel Kyoya requested her to make. The cherry blossoms floated beautifully through the air with the gentle breeze, accentuating the blissful atmosphere that the hosts work so hard to create.

She was surprised when she suddenly met Takashi's eyes. Though unbeknownst to her, he had already been staring. She gave a gentle wave in greeting, and he smiled politely in return. She contemplated walking up to greet the others when Tamaki suddenly broke a window with his self-proclaimed 'Starlight Kick' and a ball.

She swiftly turned around, wanting nothing to do with it.

"There you are!"

It was the next day now. Hanabi was once again hard at work. She wiped at the sweat on her brow and looked up upon hearing the familiar voice. "Hey Tamaki, what's going on?"

"I'm sure you'd be excited to know! We are playing the games of you common folk, so I came to invite you to play with us!"

"Eh..." she looked down. She was covered in mud from the bank of a natural pond she was creating. There was a wide open space that the chairman gave her permission to change as she wished. They did the heavy lifting, but the rest was entirely up to her. She didn't have the means to continue today, so she was just wasting time on other things until Haruhi was finished with Club activities. "I don't think so, Tamaki. I'm a little...underdressed." She giggled at her understatement.

"We should have spare clothes in the club room. Come," Tamaki held out his hand, "I'll find something for you."

Hanabi stared at his hand, before removing her glove to accept the help to stand up. "Are you sure? I don't wanna be a bother."

He let go as soon as she was up. "Why would it be a bother? You're a part of the club as much as any of the others are," he smiled.

Hanabi's heart jumped upon hearing that. "Me...?"

But Tamaki didn't hear her, he just continued to talk about all the games he was so excited to play, and asking for the commoners opinion on the best strategies to win. By the time they made it to the others, Hanabi was laughing happily and wholeheartedly.

The club was waiting underneath the shade of a tree, and she greeted them happily. There were three other students that was introduced as the newspaper club, so she greeted them as well. They were confused with her presence and muttered amongst themselves suspiciously.

"Hanabi...what are you wearing...?" Haruhi asked.

"Uhm...does it look that bad? I thought it was fine..." she pulled at her skirt. "Tamaki also had a cute bunny suit, but I thought this might be easier to run in."

"That's your reasoning?" Haruhi muttered. Currently, she was wearing the girls uniform for Ouran. Which didn't look bad, she just didn't want Kyoya to charge her a rental fee.

Hanabi bounced up to Mori, "I forgot to thank you for the gloves. They're probably the best pair I've ever had! Look!" She held up her hands, "no cuts!"

He smiled gently, and without warning, brought his hands up to hers and wrapped his fingers around them. "I'm glad."

Hanabi's face turned a dangerous shade of red before she finally got the sense to pull away. "Takashi! You can't just hold people's hands! What if people get the wrong idea?"

She knew how important it was for him to keep up appearances. What kind of backlash would he get for holding the hand of a commoner? Nobles could be very cruel.

Luckily, the newspaper club were still muttering on the sidelines, unaware of the juicy gossip they could've been spreading.

"Alright men! Let's start!" Tamaki announced.

"Hana-chan! Stay with me, okay?" Honey asked cutely.

"Hani-senpai! I know it's scary exploring the unknown world of 'commoner games', but you can't hog one for yourself!" Tamaki scolded.

Haruhi and Hanabi grew tick marks. "Maybe I shouldn't have come." Hanabi said.

"You're lucky you have a choice."

They played a few rounds of Daruma Doll, and were now playing Kick the Can. Kyoya was picked to be 'it'. Hanabi was about to follow Haruhi and Tamaki into the rose maze, but she was pulled the other way by the twins.

"Aw c'mon! I know all the best hiding spots in there!" She protested.

"Isn't it more fun this way?" Hikaru said.

"Leaving those two alone?" Kaoru added, as they led her into the school building.

"So that's what your playing at...as her older sister, I do not approve of this method!"

"Don't misunderstand, you're here for our entertainment as well," they said with dark smiles. The next instant, Hikaru grabbed both of her hands with his and held them at his own chest.

Hanabi and Hikaru exchanged blank looks.

"Hikaru...what exactly are you trying to do here?" She finally asked.

"Absolutely no reaction," Kaoru concluded.

"Which means, she's definitely in love with Mori-senpai."

"...huh?!" Before she could ask, the twins pushed open a door.

"Oh, the others are here already."

Hanabi was brought into a room filled with newspapers. The twins sat on the desk right in front of the large window. She glanced around, wondering exactly what she was doing here.

"Hana-chan, you can just stand here," Honey instructed her.

Then, she merely spectated the dragging down of the newspaper club. She still didn't know why she was here, but she was moved as the host club members defended their absent president wholeheartedly.

As they walked down the halls again, she asked, "does this mean I lost?"

They just sighed.

"Don't give me that! I didn't even know you guys had beef with the newspaper club!"

"Beef?" The twins asked. "We never ate with them."

"I think we should have cake instead!" Honey suggested.

"I believe it's a term commoners use, meaning 'to quarrel'."

"I give up." She felt a pat on her head, and smiled up at Mori for the comfort.

"So, Hanabi. What do you think of the boss?"

"Tamaki?" She asked. "I think he's a sexist idiot who doesn't understand that other people are allowed to have their own opinions." They flinched at the harshness of her tone. "But...I also believe that his intentions are pure. And maybe, with time, he'll lose his misogynistic tendencies. And if he plans on being with my sister, he'll have to lose it quickly."

"So you know he likes Haruhi?" Kaoru asked.

"Of course. I knew it from the first day I saw them together. It's kinda funny how he himself has no idea he's in love," she laughed.

"...yeah. Hilarious." They deadpanned.